OK, so in my first BWG game ever, a player made a Dwarf with Gray Power (and Forte, but that’s another story) and took a Dwarven Shield, which is a Gray scale tool of defense and apparently, in the right hands, wanton destruction.
If I’m reading it right, then this Dwarf with Gray Power and a Dwarven Shield can do Gray scale damage with said shield upon any successful hit. Said opponent, if they be essentially any mere mortal being without Gray scale MW and/or armor, is then summarily killed, even if they’re a Troll with B16 MW and wearing plated mail.
Why two shields? You don’t get much from the second one.
But yes. I’d remove the shield’s ability to treat its damage shade as the wielder’s Power shade and just say it’s black-shade damage. But as it’s written, it’s one of the deadliest weapons technically available out of character burning. Don’t be afraid as a GM to not let people have Dwarven Shields just like you can ban Dwarven Mail.
Against black shade mortals he’d be pretty bad ass. I don’t remember that black shade armor doesn’t protect against gray shade attacks, but my experience with gray shade is limited. Do you have a page reference for that?
Dwarven Shield description pg. 126 BWG toward the end of the Dwarf Lifepath section
“When used as a weapon, the shield’s weapon shade is that of its bearer’s Power.”
And for Gray weapon damage pg. 547 BWG:
“Gray and white shade weapons do damage in the gray and white shade on the PTGS.”
Same page for armor:
“Armor may only test against weapons of the same or darker shade. Standard armor [black shade], for example, won’t protect against gray-shade weapons.”
